Does anyone have any experience with a repeat Nissen? My daughter is now 15. She had a nissen when she was 16 months old. For the past month she has been severely refluxing...waking with a very painful throat. Now her tonsils and throat are so swollen she can hardly swallow, when she drinks the liquid comes back up. She is also having alot of spasming in her esophegus. She takes carafate, prevacid, levsin, inderal, gabapentin, and maloxx.

Dear Kim, So sorry the reflux is back. The reflux must have been severe if your daughter had surgery at 16 months. There is a lot of conflicting info in the research literature about how long a nissen "lasts". However, it is not uncommon for it to loosen and cause the reflux to return. it sounds like it has really become severe. I hope you will read the article on surgery in the Reading Room section of this website. There is an excellent list of questions to ask the dr and things to do before considering surgery.
It might be a good idea to talk with the dr about why the reflux has returned and look at possible triggers-hiatial hernia, food allergies, delayed gastric emptying and lactose intolerance to name a few.
I have talked with a number of surgeons over the years about the reflux surgery. It is important to find a surgeon who has a great deal of experience with this type of surgery and feels very comfortable with it. it might be necessary to get a second opinion too. Not a bad idea when contemplating ANY type of surgery.
If you want to talk more, call 301-601-9541 and leave a message on our message line.
Good luck,
Jan Gambino
Associate Director
PAGER ASSN

As this was a couple of years ago I was wondering how you went. My daughter who is 10yrs had a fundoplication at 4 years and is now having symptoms again. I would really like to hear how you went. I would also like to hear from anyone who has had children who have had failed fundoplicaitons.